Institute of Education Sciences

The Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences is a civilian sub-agency that funds research, evaluation, and statistical studies on education policy, practice, and outcomes through both contracts and grants. IES operates within the Education Department's broader research and improvement infrastructure and administers education-focused research solicitations independent of the K–12 and higher-education grant programs that dominate the Department's portfolio.

IES has awarded 1,878 federal contracts totaling $12.21 billion in combined potential value since 1997, with $7.54 billion obligated to date. Contract activity has remained steady over the past five years at 71 awards in 2022, 54 in 2023, 75 in 2024, 91 in 2025, and 43 year-to-date in 2026. The most recent recorded award date is 20 October 2026. The contract competitive landscape is fragmented, with the top five primes by award count—American Institutes For Research In The Behavioral Sciences (25 awards, $115.8 million combined potential value), Mathematica Inc. (12 awards, $66.1 million), Research Triangle Institute (10 awards, $119.6 million), Charmtech Labs LLC (7 awards, $4.8 million), and Westat, Inc. (7 awards, $253.9 million)—holding 18 percent of recent awards by count. By combined potential value, concentration is highly fragmented; the top five primes hold only 7 percent, led by Educational Testing Service ($291.6 million across 4 awards) and Westat, Inc. ($253.9 million). Across the 1,878 all-time awards, 621 distinct prime contractors have received contracts. The set-aside mix is dominated by open competition, with 1,299 awards (69 percent) carrying no set-aside designation; 519 awards (28 percent) are small-business set-asides; and 60 awards (2 percent) represent 8(a) sole-source, competitive 8(a), woman-owned small business, HUBZone, and service-disabled veteran-owned small business designations combined.

IES has awarded 3,515 federal grants totaling $5.4 billion in federal dollars obligated since 2001. Grant volume has moderated sharply: 113 awards in 2022, 91 in 2023, 131 in 2024, 17 in 2025, and 20 year-to-date in 2026. The most recent grant award closed on 1 September 2026. Grant recipients are highly fragmented by both count and dollars; the top five recipients by award count—American Institutes For Research In The Behavioral Sciences (22 awards, $41.1 million federal dollars), University Of Kansas Center For Research Inc. (10 awards, $21.4 million), University Of Oregon (10 awards, $22.7 million), MDRC (10 awards, $14.1 million), and University Of Texas At Austin (10 awards, $18.9 million)—hold 17 percent of recent awards by count and only 2 percent by federal dollars across the portfolio. Across 364 distinct recipients, grant assistance is predominantly Project Grants (3,163 awards, 90 percent) with a smaller Cooperative Agreement component (352 awards, 10 percent). No recent contract opportunities or grant opportunities are recorded in the source.

The Institute of Education Sciences is the research arm of the Department of Education and aims to provide rigorous evidence on which to base educational policy and practice decisions.